Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

3 egg yolk and a 1 whole egg

For the meringue

4 egg white, room temperature

200g golden caster sugar

2 level tsp cornflour

Method

For the pastry, put the flour, butter, icing sugar, egg yolk (save the white for the meringue) and 1 tbsp cold water into a food processor. Using the pulse button so the mix is not overworked, process until the mix starts to bind. Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, gather together until smooth, then roll out and line a 23 x 2.5cm loose-bottom fluted flan tin. Trim and neaten the edges. Press pastry into flutes. The pastry is quite rich, so don’t worry if it cracks, just press it back together. Prick the base with a fork, line with foil, shiny side down, and chill for 1⁄2-1 hour (or overnight).

Put a baking sheet in the oven and heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Bake the pastry case ‘blind’ (filled with dry beans) for 15 mins, then remove the foil and bake a further 5-8 mins until the pastry is pale golden and cooked. Set aside. (Can be done a day ahead if you want to get ahead.) Lower the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

While the pastry bakes, prepare the filling: mix the cornflour, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Strain and stir in the lemon juice gradually. Make orange juice up to 200ml/7fl oz with water and strain into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Once the mixture bubbles, remove from the heat and beat in the butter until melted. Beat the egg yolks (save white for meringue) and whole egg together, stir into the pan and return to a medium heat. Keep stirring vigorously for a few minutes, until the mixture thickens and plops from the spoon. (It will bubble, but doesn’t curdle.) Take off the heat and set aside while you make the meringue.

Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add half the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating. Whisk in the cornflour, then add the rest of the sugar as before until smooth and thick. Quickly reheat the filling and pour it into the pastry case. Immediately put spoonfuls of meringue around the edge of the filling (if you start in the middle the meringue may sink), then spread so it just touches the pastry (this will anchor it and help stop it sliding). Pile the rest into the centre, spreading so it touches the surface of the hot filling (and starts to cook), then give it all a swirl. Return to the oven for 18-20 mins until the meringue is crisp and slightly coloured. Let the pie sit in the tin for 30 mins, then remove and leave for at least another 1⁄2-1 hr before slicing. Eat the same day.

Really great lemon meringue.I had an issue in that my pan is very heavy based and continues to heat things quite strongly even after I remove from the heat. As a result, when I added the eggs I felt I saw a little bit of cooked whites floating around (from the whole egg cooking) so I quickly whizzed with a hand whisk to smooth it out. After that I just couldn't get the mixture to thicken so I had to add another spoon of cornflour but then it set fine.

Crust is to small a recipe. Unless you're making a small pie. Custard is much more mild than other recipes of this pie. With the addition of the eggs the lemon taste is almost obliterated. Meringue with cornstarch is not good. In order for it to cook properly with that much cornstarch the custard has to be piping hot. Still, you can taste the starch in the meringue and lose much of the loft normally attained by using cream of tartar. I wouldn't recommend this meringue and I'd double the crust. Or use a very small pie plate. For this reason I (generously gave it a three).

Good recipe. The pastry was easy to make; good consistency of the filling, though I would have preferred it to be a bit more "lemony", next time - more lemon, less water. Meringue was great, but I could taste the corn flour, again a little adjustment: 1 spoon of corn flour, not 2.

I've made this several times now, it's so yummy that people demand it at parties. I don't use pastry, I make a biscuit base: 300g digestive biscuits & 150g butter. I also use 3 large lemons and a normal size orange - this gives extra zest and enough fruit juice so that no water is required. It's fantastically lemony which works so well with the buttery biscuit base and the fluffy meringue.

Brill! Just made a couple of changes - used my own sweet shortcrust pastry as I know it works for me (8oz used) and a smaller tin (20cm) to produce a lovely deep pie. I was delighted and will definitely make it again.

I find this recipe really hard to follow, it took me forever to make as I don't have a foodProcessor so had to do everything by hand.The lemon filling doesn't taste that nice, I think it's the butter that ruins it, I've used other recipes that doesn't require the butter and it tastes much nicer and lighter.I love lemon meringue pie but I won't be making this recipe again, it's too rich for me.Also, not convinced about using 'golden' caster sugar for the meringue, i prefer my meringue white rather than the golden beige colour it turns with this...

I decided on this recipe because of the high reviews and told my partner I was making him a big surprise. I followed the recipe to the letter. My first attempt was a bit of a disappointment. The meringue was flat, the pastry was so hard to work with and so delicate, and there was a puddle of sticky syrup on the serving plate after I made it. But it tasted so good! So, being a Yorkshire lass I didn't give up and yesterday attempted this again. Well, I hate to sound negative but, it was a disaster. 3 attempts at the pastry (I ended up adding water in the end and chilled in BEFORE rolling out) but it still failed to contain the lemon filling as it crumbled as soon as I removed it from the tin. Another sad looking meringue and it again leaked all that sugary syrup. What am I doing wrong? Im following to the letter. Don't get me wrong it tasts gorgeous, it just ends up looking horrible. All that work and washing up! And to top it off a kiss on the forehead and the comment " at least it tastes good love" from my fella as I present my lemon puddle makes me want to scream. Well done if it worked for you.

Okay, you need to add more water at the dough stage; a teaspoon at a time, until when you gently squeeze it, it comes together. Form into a ball, wrap tightly in cellophane; flatten into a disk shape and chill. The meringue will be flat for a few reasons. But mostly importantly you really have to whip it until soft peaks form; anything less and nothing will bind. Then only add the sugar (not that blasted starch) until the end.

Agreed with the pastry -- I've had mixed success (other times the base was leaky and I'd gotten the same sticky syrup that you did)...I've heard that brushing the pastry base with egg white helps to seal it?As for the meringue, how long did you whisk it for? For the meringue, I opted not to add cornflour, just whisked the egg whites with sugar and a bit of cream of tartar until stiff peaks formed and it turned out OK.

Good for you. Two tablespoons of corn starch is the kiss of death. Or cheap tasting diner pie.You're right about the egg white wash; it does seal. But you have to add approximately two more tablespoons of water to get the pastry to bind. It depends on how much moisture the butter has in it as well. Salted or unsalted--that sort of thing.

I never used to like lemon meringue pie, but this has converted me it's absolutely delicious! It does take a bit of time, but well worth it.. made it yesterday and the hubby and I have demolished over half of it already after him moaning at me since I made thelast one to make another one.. it's a bit like eating a cloud, it all just melts in the mouth in a lovely cloud of lemoness. Well, he's not back from work yet do you think he'd notice if I ate a bit more of it! 101% recommended :)

AMAZING!! i made this for the family one night 2 months ago and now every time i have a day off they beg me to make this again everybody loves this. I have to make one change and thats to the base because i have to make everything gluten free but it still tastes awesome. Would recommend this to anybody!

Very tasty and pretty easy to make. Not having an electric whisk or food processor I did it all by hand. I think it turned out great and my husband and father in law agree! The only thing I changed was to add a bit of lemon extract to the curd to make it extra lemony :)

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Questions (7)

Thanks for your question. We have not tested a gluten-free version of this recipe so cannot give you a specific swap but we do have a number of gluten-free bakes, which may help if you'd like to give it go. Hope that helps.

Is the recipe correct?I made this today the pastry came out okish although very dry and crackly. I added a few extra drops of water to it prior to rolling, but the filling was far too thin the meringue came away from the sides after re-baking and looked like an island floating on the top of a lemon puddle. I am hoping it sets in the fridge else I will be using a spoon not a knife to serve it. I doubt I will be using this recipe again. I am a novice cook but I think its the fault of the recipe in this case not the cook.

Hi cheflulu, thanks for getting in touch. We haven't tested this recipe using ready made pastry so cannot guarantee perfect results but would suggest you use a 320g pack of ready rolled shortcrust pastry. Let us know how you get on.

Tips (2)

roullours4th Oct, 2016

Many tears ago I had the Readers Digest 'The Cookery Year', which instructed us to sprinkle the meringue with caster sugar before returning to the oven to cook the meringue. The crispness is amazing. Try it!

This was my 1st try at this recipe and I added extra sugar to the lemon filling as the lemons were very tart.For those who have problems with the meringue I follow the Delia meringue tips in her book 1 how to cook. Namely 2 mins at a low speed till just slightly frothy increasing to medium speed adding the sugar as stated in the recipe. The higher speed made the meringue just right. Took appx 5 mins all in. I baked this at 150 degrees for appx an hour for a more marshmallowy topping. It was delish : )

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